Book News: Kafka’s Inscrutability, Tablets R Us

“ ‘The Satanic Verses’ took on a mythical power. At the mosque, when one mischievous boy read from what he claimed was a page of the novel, I was terrified the roof would fall in.” Sameer Rahim recounts his personal relationship with Salman Rushdie’s infamous novel.

“In terms of the field of graphic novels and cartooning I am perceived as this big success. And I am a big success, but I feel like an utter fraud. I mean, I’m okay. I do good work. I know I do good work. But I haven’t quite … I feel like …” An interview with Alison Bechdel when she was about to turn fifty.

“The besetting sin of the Kafka critic is impatience, the need to locate the mystery and then solve it.” Gabriel Josipovici on why even the most learned scholars can seldom understand Kafka.